A Brand New Person (Part 5)

Meditation in the Word Will Transform You!

11.02.2025

Review

The past number of weeks we have been discussing who we are in Jesus. The way you see yourself determines how you live your life.

We have mentioned that in the new birth our nature changes. Old things pass away, all things become new spiritually.

We’ve mentioned that our responsibility after salvation is to control our bodies and renew our minds.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

All of us must retrain our minds to have the mind of Christ!

Last time we talked about 4 keys to renewing the mind:

1. Locate the wrong thought.

2. Find scriptures that refute the wrong thinking and feelings and meditate.

3. Catch yourself when thinking and acting on the thoughts.

4. Siege the thoughts.

Today – Meditation in the Word Will Transform You!

The most important thing I can do as a Christian is to develop my spirit nature.

And you develop your spirit by meditation!

 

Smith Wigglesworth:

I am a thousand times bigger on the inside than I am on the outside.

 

You can be bigger inside than the problems on the outside.

When life’s challenges come, who you really are inside comes out!

 

Get ready for life and its hard places by developing your spirit.

 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

(17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,

(18) while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

2 Corinthians 4:16 (MSG)

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.

 

You can build up your spirit, the person you are inside by meditation, and you can learn to navigate through tough things with a smile!

 

Proverbs 4:23 – Various Translations

NLT:

Guard your heart (spirit) above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

AMP:

Keep and guard your heart (spirit) with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

God’s Word:

Guard your heart (spirit) more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.

Complete Jewish Bible:

Above everything else, guard your heart (spirit); for it is the source of life’s consequences.

Young’s Literal Translation:

Above every charge keep thy heart (spirit), For out of it [are] the outgoings of life.

 

We go to school to educate and train the mind, we exercise to develop our muscles and keep our bodies healthy, but what do we do to develop the spirit?

Exercise develops the body, education develops the mind, and meditation develops the spirit.

 

Warren Wiersbe

Meditation is to the spirit what digestion is to the body.

Four Steps For Developing Your Spirit Nature:

1. Mediate in the Word of God.

2. Practice the Word.

3. Put God’s Word 1st place in your life.

4. Instantly obey your conscience.

We are looking at point 1 today…

Meditation in the Word of God develops the spirit nature!

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

 

Deuteronomy 8:3 (NKJV)

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

John 6:63 (NKJV)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (AMP)

And we also [especially] thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God [which you heard] from us, you welcomed it not as the word of [mere] men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it].

Hebrews 4:12 (AMP)

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV)

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

 

E. W. Kenyon:

Our attitude towards the Word determines the place that God holds in our daily life.

Definitions for Meditate

Meditate – From Strong’s Exhaustive Concordence

1. # 1897. הגה haga; a primitive root.

To murmur; by implication, to ponder:— imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, speak, study, talk, utter.

2. # 7878. שׂיח siyah; a primitive root.

To ponder, i. e. (by implication) converse (with oneself, and hence, aloud) or (transitively) utter:— commune, complain, declare, meditate, muse, pray, speak, talk (with). To put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing.

 

Simple definition for meditate:

1. To speak slowly out loud over and over again.

2. To chew the cud, like a cow. To ruminate over and over in the mind.

Meditation in the Word is like chewing your food when you eat!

When Moses died and Joshua took his place, God instructed Joshua to meditate on the Word.

Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Notice that meditation and mouth or words go hand in hand!

They can be spoken words or words that revolve over and over in your so-called self talk.

How I learned to Meditate in the Word:

I stumbled upon meditation as a new believer as I was looking for ways to keep my mind off of the negative thoughts from my past.

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.




I decided to take a scripture a day and keep it as the focus of my thoughts if I had idle mental time. I did not realize that what I was doing was actually meditating the Word of God.




That practice changed what I believe about God, myself, my relationship to others, my life, my health, my finances, literally, everything in my life!




Then I found out that it was a scriptural principle.

Here are 17 scriptures that mention meditation and its practice:

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NLT)

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. (7) Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. (8) Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. (9) Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Psalm 4:4 (NKJV)

Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

Psalm 63:6 (NKJV)

When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

Psalm 77:6 (NKJV)

I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.

Psalm 77:12 (NKJV)

I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.

Psalm 119:15 (NKJV)

I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways.

Psalm 119:27 (NKJV)

Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

Psalm 119:48 (NKJV)

My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.

Psalm 119:78 (NKJV)

Let the proud be ashamed, for they treated me wrongfully with falsehood; But I will meditate on Your precepts.

Psalm 119:148 (NKJV)

My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word.

Psalm 143:5 (NKJV)

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.

Psalm 1 (NKJV)

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. (3) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (4) The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. (5) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (6) For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Ephesians 5:19 (NKJV)

Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Proverbs 7:1-3 (NKJV)

My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you. (2) Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. (3) Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Psalm 119:97 (NKJV)

Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

A quote that motivated me to life long meditation in the Word:

Kenneth Hagin had a cassette tape entitled “How to Train the Human Spirit” that I listened to as a new believer in the 1970s. In that teaching he mentioned a quote from E.W. Kenyon.

Quote from The Hidden Man by E.W.Kenyon, p. 53-54.

“The mostly deeply spiritual men and women I know are people who have given much time to meditation. You cannot develop spiritual wisdom without meditation. Joshua 1:8 ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success’ (or deal wisely in the affairs of life). Take time to meditate in the Word. Shut yourself in alone with your own spirit where the clamour of the world of the world is shut out. If you are ambitious to do something worthwhile, I would suggest that you take ten or fifteen minutes for meditation…learn to do it. In other words, begin the development of your own spirit. You may develop any gift that you wish to. The most important gift that God has given to you is the spirit. It is the development of this spirit that is going to mean more to you than any other thing. The great majority of men do not think. They live in the realm of the senses. The senses have limitations. Your spirit has practically no limitations. You can develop your spirit life until you dominate circumstances. Your spirit has practically no limitations. You can develop your spirit until you dominate circumstances. Your spirit can come into vital union with deity, become a partaker of the Divine nature. That spirit, with God’s nature in it, can fellowship with God on terms of absolute equality with God Himself. Do you see your limitless possibilities? Jesus brings you into contact with spiritual things, not mental things. Spiritual things are as real as physical things. Your spirit can come to the point where the things in His Word will become as real to you, and Jesus will become as real to you as any loved one. You can see the necessity of your taking time to meditate, to get quiet with the Lord. You must take time to sit with His Word and let the Spirit unveil His Word to your spirit. If you will, you will know Him in reality.”

Start meditating today by taking 5 or 10 minutes and revolving a scripture over and over in your mind, or by speaking it out loud!

Do this for 3 to 4 weeks and you will develop a habit that will transform your way of living!

Action Points:

1. Do you exercise your body? Do you educate your mind?

2. Do you meditate to develop your spirit person?

3. What area of your life is your biggest challenge right now?

4. What scriptures can you find to meditate on and reinforce God’s attitude towards you in that area of challenge?

5. Are you willing to take 10 minutes a day to start meditating and changing your inner life?